BILL NUMBER: SB 410	ENROLLED
	BILL TEXT

	PASSED THE SENATE  AUGUST 20, 2015
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  JULY 16, 2015
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JUNE 16, 2015
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 6, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Beall
   (Principal coauthor: Senator Block)

                        FEBRUARY 25, 2015

   An act to amend Sections 94928 and 94929 of the Education Code,
relating to private postsecondary education.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 410, Beall. California Private Postsecondary Education Act of
2009.
   Existing law, the California Private Postsecondary Education Act
of 2009, provides, among other things, for student protections and
regulatory oversight of private postsecondary schools in the state.
The act is enforced by the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education
within the Department of Consumer Affairs.
   The act requires an institution to annually report to the bureau
specified information regarding completion rates and license
examination passage rates, among other things, and to publish that
information on its School Performance Fact Sheet. The act defines
numerous terms for purposes of this reporting requirement, including
defining "graduates" to mean students who complete a program within
100% of the published program length.
   This bill would recharacterize "graduates" as "on-time graduates"
for purposes of a completion rate calculation, and would redefine the
term "graduate" for other purposes to mean an individual who has
been awarded a degree or diploma.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 94928 of the Education Code is amended to read:

   94928.  As used in this article, the following terms have the
following meanings:
   (a) "Cohort population" means the number of students that began a
program on a cohort start date.
   (b) "Cohort start date" means the first class day after the
cancellation period during which a cohort of students attends class
for a specific program.
   (c) "On-time graduates" means the number of students who complete
a program within 100 percent of the published program length. An
institution may separately state completion information for students
completing the program within 150 percent of the original contracted
time, but that information may not replace completion information for
students completing within the original scheduled time. Completion
information shall be separately stated for each campus or branch of
the institution.
   (d) "Graduates available for employment" means the number of
graduates minus the number of graduates unavailable for employment.
   (e) (1) "Graduates employed in the field" means graduates who are
gainfully employed in a single position for which the institution
represents the program prepares its graduates, beginning within six
months after a student completes the applicable educational program.
For occupations for which the state requires passing an examination,
the period of employment shall begin within six months of the
announcement of the examination results for the first examination
available after a student completes an applicable educational
program.
   (2) The bureau shall define by July 1, 2014, specific measures and
standards for determining whether a student is gainfully employed in
a full-time or part-time position for which the institution
represents the program prepares its graduates, including
self-employment or conducting freelance work, and may set the
standards for the hours per week and duration of employment and
utilize any job classification methodology the bureau determines
appropriate for this purpose, including, but not limited to, the
United States Department of Labor's Standard Occupational
Classification codes.
   (3) This subdivision shall not prohibit the bureau from
authorizing an institution to aggregate single positions held by a
graduate for purposes of meeting the hours per week standards
established by the bureau.
   (f) "Graduates unavailable for employment" means graduates who,
after graduation, die, become incarcerated, are called to active
military duty, are international students that leave the United
States or do not have a visa allowing employment in the United
States, or are continuing their education at an accredited or
bureau-approved postsecondary institution.
   (g) "Students available for graduation" means the cohort
population minus the number of students unavailable for graduation.
   (h) "Students unavailable for graduation" means students who have
died, been incarcerated, or called to active military duty.
  SEC. 2.  Section 94929 of the Education Code is amended to read:
   94929.  (a) An institution shall annually report to the bureau, as
part of the annual report, and publish in its School Performance
Fact Sheet, the completion rate for each program. Except as provided
in subdivision (b), the completion rate shall be calculated by
dividing the number of on-time graduates by the number of students
available for graduation.
   (b) In lieu of calculating graduation data pursuant to subdivision
(a), an institution may report graduation data reported to, and
calculated by, the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System of
the United States Department of Education.